Adult © Sérgio Correia eBird S36914633 Macaulay Library ML 59579951
Adult © César Gil
Immature © Simon Colenutt
Immature © Honza Grünwald
Adult © Éric Francois Roualet
+ 4
Adult © Volker Hesse
© Louis Imbeau
© Ian Davies

Western House-Martin Delichon urbicum

Sign in to see your badges

Identification

POWERED BY MERLIN

Distinctive small swallow with blue-black upperparts, a big white rump patch, and snow-white underparts. Juvenile in late summer and autumn is duller above and dingier below than adult. Compare with other swallows; note the relatively shallowly forked and streamerless tail, as well as jerky and fluttery flight. In east of range, overlaps with very similar Siberian House-Martin (formerly treated as one species); note present species’ significantly smaller rump patch. Breeds colonially, frequently building mud nests under the eaves of buildings; forages over varied open and semi-open habitats, especially water bodies and adjacent fields. Gives a soft burbling trill.

POWERED BY MERLIN